Tell Iowa Rep. Steve King to Stop Opposing Animal Protection

Iowa Rep. Steve King has one of the worst records on animal welfare in the entire Congress, and the influence of his extreme anti-animal views extends well beyond the borders of his home state of Iowa. King led the fight to try to block legislation that would crack down on the barbaric practices of dogfighting and cockfighting nationwide, and has consistently voted against even the most basic protections for animals, such as including pets in disaster planning.

If his voting record isn’t bad enough, Rep. King is one of the most senior Republican members of the powerful House Agriculture Committee. So many pieces of federal animal protection legislation go to this committee—dealing with puppy mills, dogfighting and cockfighting, horse abuse, and others—and can be bottled up by King and other enemies of animal protection. Given his powerful committee post, King’s anti-animal positions affect animal welfare nationwide. He recently used his position on this committee to introduce an amendment to the Farm Bill seeking to nullify state and local laws dealing with animal welfare and food safety around the country!

Whether you live in California, New York, or anywhere in between, Steve King threatens your rights to protect animals, even in your own state.Please sign our petition today to tell King we won’t stand for his extreme anti-animal agenda anymore.

Representative King, I’m urging you to stop standing in the way of animal protection by fighting even the most basic and common-sense protections for animals. You’ve led the effort in Congress to block legislation to crack down on the barbaric practices of dogfighting and cockfighting—even voting against a ban on taking children to animal fights. Dogfighting and cockfighting are the last thing our children should be exposed to. It is cruelty to animals, and exposes our young children to violence and illegal gambling.

As a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee, I know you have tremendous influence over animal welfare laws nationally, as many pieces of federal animal protection legislation are assigned to your committee. As a citizen of this country, I won’t stand for you and other opponents of animal welfare taking away my rights to protect animals.

We need public officials who share our values and who will stand up for basic animal protection laws. That’s why I’m urging you, Rep. King, to stop standing in the way of animal protection, stop defending animal cruelty, and support the animal fighting amendment to the 2012 Farm Bill.